Michael Bliss

Written exclusively for this collection by today's leading
Peckinpah critics, the nine essays in Peckinpah Today explore the
body of work of one of America's most important filmmakers,
revealing new insights into his artistic process and the
development of his lasting themes. Edited by Michael Bliss, this
book provides groundbreaking criticism of Peckinpah's work by
illuminating new sources, from modified screenplay documents to
interviews with screenplay writers and editors.

Included is a rare interview with A. S. Fleischman, author of
the screenplay for The Deadly Companions, the film that launched
Peckinpah's career in feature films. The collection also contains
essays by scholar Stephen Prince and Paul Seydor, editor of the
controversial special edition of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. In
his essay on Straw Dogs, film critic Michael Sragow reveals how
Peckinpah and co-scriptwriter David Zelag Goodman transformed a
pulp novel into a powerful film. The final essay of the collection
surveys Peckinpah's career, showing the dark turn that the
filmmaker's artistic path took between his first and last films.
This comprehensive approach reinforces the book's dawn-to-dusk
approach, resulting in a fascinating picture of a great filmmaker's
work.